The late hours of Monday night (24.08.09) brought an opportunity to take in a quick observation of Jupiter with the 25×100 binoculars. Initially I could only discern three of the Galilean moons, but further investigation revealed the fourth elusive satellite — Io — hugging close by Europa. Upon checking ‘The Night Sky’ section in my August edition of Astronomy Now I realised that I was witnessing a burgeoning occultation as Io converged upon Europa. Unfortunately I was unable to watch this entire Jovian event unfold, but it was fascinating to see the wafer-thin gap between the shimmering moons slowly disappear as they drifted towards their celestial rendezvous.
Archive for the ‘Observing’ Category
Aug
21
2009
Midnight on the Firing Line
The Perseid meteor shower — which peaked last week — is one of the most dazzling celestial events of the year. Caused by debris left over from the comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle; the meteors streak across the sky— some in a blazing flash of light — before fading into the darkness. A spectacular sight, and one that I had the joy of sharing with many other observers from across the globe thanks to the first ever Twitter Meteorwatch.
During the run up to the annual maximum I spent a couple of mornings making visual observations as well as imaging with the DSLR. Due to the local light pollution, Moonlight and changing weather conditions the results were sketchy to say the least. Nevertheless I managed to catch a bright, but brief Perseid — about -1 magnitude — barreling south eastward from just under Perseus towards Pisces and Cetus. The camera also caught two faint Perseids which you can see below.
Perseid in Cassiopeia: Mouseover the image for more information.
Perseid in Perseus: Mouseover the image for more information.
When cloud cover made visual and photographic observation impossible, I utilised an ordinary FM radio receiver to listen to the ionized trails that the meteors were leaving in the atmosphere high above. This proved reasonably successful with six radio echoes identified over the course of an hour — buzzes, oscillations and distant radio chatter — above the hiss of the white noise.
Thankfully Stenhousemuir was furnished with cloudless skies from August 12th through to the early morning hours of August 13th — the best time to see the meteor shower from the United Kingdom. Between 01:09 - 02:19 a.m. BST I spotted eight Perseids, all with magnitudes ranging from -2 to -1. No doubt I could have perhaps seen more meteors had I the benefit of a much darker setting.
Regrettably the DSLR, which had being firing off 30 second exposures, did not capture anything more exciting than some fetching star trails. A photograph of a bold Perseid would have certainly made a striking prize, but when all is said and done I thoroughly enjoyed the chance to witness this thrilling meteoric display firsthand.
Jul
28
2009
Astral Arcadia
As the ethereal glimmer of twilight overtook the sunset last Tuesday evening (21.07.09) noctilucent clouds once again danced across the sky above Stenhousemuir. This was a beautiful display that extended it’s fibrous like body at least 60° to 70° across the north eastern horizon.
Having had a chance to study the two photographs I managed to take more closely I’d say that this was a Type 5 formation featuring what looks like Type P (waves crossing a band), and Type IIIb (waves with undulations) structures. A combination that made for a breathtaking sight.
Jul
21
2009
Psychedelic Afterglow
Better late than never, or so the saying goes. The same can certainly be said for my photographs of a noctilucent maelstrom that descended across Central Scotland a week ago on Sunday just passed (12.07.09). I had no idea, after settling down to watch the fourth possible launch of the space shuttle Endeavour, that I would be treated to such an incredible display later that night. It was only when I took a peek from the bedroom window that I was confronted with an extraordinary scene.
With all thoughts of the space shuttle launch forgotten I sat completely hypnotized as the sky slowly rippled, and shimmered in the fading light. However. It wasn’t to last, and within 45 minutes the entire event seemingly evaporated as the Sun sank lower below the horizon, but I did manage to fire off a number of shots from my hastily assembled camera. Two of which you can see below.
When it comes to classifying NCLs I’m no expert, but I’d definitely say that this was a Type 5 display in terms of brightness. It was also big, and stretched over 60° from the northern horizon to the north eastern horizon. What structure categories the individual clouds fall into is anyone’s guess! It will be interesting to see what NCL activity follows on from this, but I’m hoping things can only get better.
